Believe me, I'm not a fan of slurping up tons of calories and carbs daily in drinks filled with sugar. Nevertheless.... warning labels?

A bill to require sugary soft drinks to carry labels warning of obesity, diabetes and tooth decay passed the California Senate on Thursday, the latest move by lawmakers nationwide aimed at persuading people to drink less soda.

Sometimes in today's world, finding sanity is not always easy. Doing waaaaaay more than one little person really can in a day, I've managed to harm my own health through stress and overwork. Thus - trying to pare down and thus not posting anywhere as much as I used to do (should anyone have noticed).

With my love for philosophy and argument, I wish I could spend loads of time engaging in such activities. For now, however - not (as they say) in the cards.

Nevertheless, wanted to share this with people. More government is not the answer. Freedom to do as we wish, as much as possible, is.

Fifty years ago, Singapore and Hong Kong were very poor Asian city-states, without natural resources. Yet now, their millions of citizens enjoy the highest living standards and life spans on the planet — Singapore being No. 3 and Hong Kong No. 4 in terms of longevity. They did not achieve success from foreign aid or by government spending (which is well under 20 percent of GDP in both places). They achieved this by having a great deal of economic freedom — Hong Kong being No. 1 and Singapore at No. 2 out of the 159 countries ranked. Other countries that are not yet as rich as Singapore and Hong Kong but that have opted for the smaller government model, such as Taiwan and South Korea, and developing countries, such as Chile, have been growing more rapidly than their more statist competitors — which results in the vast majority of their citizens having a much higher quality of life.

According to the World Bank, Switzerland now has a higher GDP per capita, both in nominal terms and in purchasing power parity (PPP), than the United States. France and Switzerland are neighbors, and France has many more natural resources than Switzerland, as well as numerous ports, of which Switzerland has none. Yet, the Swiss have a per-capita income one-third larger than the French, and an unemployment rate one-third of the French.

As can be seen in the table, rising per-capita incomes, economic growth and low levels of unemployment are more often associated with smaller, not larger, government and economic freedom. Numerous studies show that as government grows as a percentage of GDP (above about 25 percent), economic growth and job creation slow, not rise. The same thing is true at the state level in America. The big-spending states, such as California, Illinois and New York, are losing population and economic share to lower-tax and lower-spending states, such as Texas and Florida (neither of which has a state income tax).

Those clamoring for higher and higher minimum wages claim to want to help those with little. What they do not seem to realize, however, is that the true path to success and greater wealth cannot be guaranteed for people.